Showing posts with label Delta Moon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Delta Moon. Show all posts

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Delta Moon - Babylon Is Falling

Size: 94,8 MB
Time: 40:21
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2018
Styles: Blues Rock
Art: Full

01. Long Way To Go (3:27)
02. Babylon Is Falling (3:58)
03. One More Heartache (3:00)
04. Might Take A Lifetime (2:38)
05. Skinny Woman (3:28)
06. Louisiana Rain (4:56)
07. Little Pink Pistol (4:11)
08. Nobody's Fault But Mine (3:26)
09. Somebody In My Home (3:30)
10. One Mountain At A Time (3:34)
11. Christmas Time In New Orleans (4:09)

Atlanta swamp rock and blues quartet Delta Moon returns with their tenth studio album “Babylon Is Falling.” The titans of tone deliver a set of infectious grooves laced with a double-barreled shot of greasy bottleneck slide guitar and lap steel, along with thought-provoking lyrics on a set of tunes that range from Delta blues to gospel, soul and Southern rock that Vintage Guitar magazine declares “Delta Moon is deep blues with a fury.” The album of five new original tracks and six inspired covers was recorded at Diamond Street Studio, Marlon Patton’s House, and Vick Stafford Studio and mixed by Jeff Bakos, one of the top amplifier techs and independent recording engineers in the Southeast.

The set opens with the call and response work song ‘Long Way To Go,’ the big vocal sound evoking The Fairfield Four accompanied by an electric band. The title track ‘Babylon Is Falling,’ finds the whiskey-soaked voice of Tom Gray preaching the blues with this timely adaptation of an old Shaker hymn that has long been associated with paramilitary groups and emancipation. This new version has the quartet updating the lyrics to reflect the political and social unrest in the U.S. today over a loping caravan beat from drummer Marlon Patton and a hypnotic chorus. Then the “Hot Lanta” group tackle the Motown classic ‘One More Heartache,’ taking the Marvin Gaye song deeper into Southern blues. Gray’s partner in crime, Mark Johnson, penned two new songs for the record, the first offering being the happy-go-lucky ramble ‘Might Take A Lifetime,’ that features his clever country pickin’. The fellas trade licks on a romp through R.L. Burnside’s Hill Country two-beat blues ‘Skinny Woman,’ then pay tribute to fallen hero Tom Petty with a lovely acoustic reading of a deep cut from his Mudcrutch days ‘Louisiana Rain.’ Gray waxes poetic about the attributes of his favorite tough girl on the slinky ‘Little Pink Pistol,’ and the groove stays funky on the twisty update of gospel blues staple ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine.’

Gray steps into the role of Chester Burnett on the lowdown blues ‘Somebody In My Home,’ blowing blues harp and snarling like the late great Howlin’ Wolf. The upbeat boogie ‘One Mountain At A Time,’ is a study in cockeyed optimism and perseverance. The album closes with the nostalgic trip to the bayou ‘Christmas Time In New Orleans,’ with its formula of colorfully descriptive lyrics, spooky swamp groove and doubling of the vocals on slide guitar that has become the Delta Moon musical archetype.

The artistic and alluring album “Babylon Is Falling” once again demonstrates the mastery of southern roots and blues that has propelled Delta Moon forward for the last two decades. ~Rick J Bowen

Babylon Is Falling MP3
Babylon Is Falling FLAC

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Delta Moon - 2 albums: Cabbagetown / Goin' Down South

Album: Cabbagetown
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:37
Size: 83.8 MB
Styles: Slide Guitar, Southern blues
Year: 2017
Art: Front

[3:42] 1. Rock And Roll Girl
[3:30] 2. The Day Before Tomorrow
[3:38] 3. Just Lucky I Guess
[2:48] 4. Coolest Fools
[3:44] 5. Refugee
[3:22] 6. Mad About You
[6:00] 7. Delta Moon - Death Letter
[3:33] 8. 21st Century Man
[2:29] 9. Cabbagetown Shuffle
[3:46] 10. Sing Together

Tom Gray has always been a compelling songwriter, and this CD proves that he, along with the fine musicians accompanying him on CABBAGETOWN, continues to serve up masterful, and varying material. The two slide guitar attack still plays well in this latest Delta Moon set, and it's a joyful, or in some cases an emotional, group of tracks. Each tune has its own identity, and the singing from Tom and Mark Johnson, plus some exceptional background vocal work, makes CABBAGETOWN one of the group's best. This is one delightful and down to earth band, and they are a joy to hear and see. ~Eddie Cleveland

Cabbagetown mc
Cabbagetown zippy

Album: Goin' Down South
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:49
Size: 98.0 MB
Styles: Slide guitar, Southern blues
Year: 2004
Art: Front

[3:23] 1. That's It
[4:06] 2. I Want To Go
[3:48] 3. Dreams Come Real
[4:10] 4. Stone Cold Man
[3:41] 5. Goin' Down South
[3:45] 6. Poplar Grove
[2:57] 7. All She Wrote
[4:24] 8. Nightclubbing
[3:36] 9. Shake Something Loose
[4:38] 10. I'll Die Trying
[4:15] 11. Nobody Knows

Delta Moon, an Atlanta-based outfit melded around twin, lead slide guitars, offers rock-tinged blues and roots music that never go over the top or scream "boogie" in your face. In that respect, this quintet is much more closely aligned with Peter Green's Splinter Group---though not as cold-sounding as that blues outfit---than with southern icons such as the Allman Brothers or Lynyrd Skynrd.

Guitarists Tom Gray (former main man for the brains but not the bluegrass bass player of the same name) and Mark Johnson create a wonderful tone when they merge and neither seems to crowd the other. This musical symbiosis yields a rich sound that is both crisp and greasy at times but never sloppy. Bolster this element with Gina Leigh's right-on vocals, and punchy, charged up rhythm section, a sprinkling of bright piano, and Vassar Clement's cameo fiddle on Stone Cold Man, Delta Moon is a force to be reckoned with (or with which to be reckoned for those preposition purists out there).

This set contains a mixture of strongly original tracks and creative covers---including the memorable title track, which is an R.L. Burnside tune, and a great rendering of Nightclubbing by David Bowie and Iggy Pop. "Goin' Down South" may be one of the best unheralded, deserves-to-be-heard releases hiding out there. ~Loce the wizard

Goin' Down South mc
Goin' Down South zippy

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Delta Moon - 2 albums: Hell Bound Train / Black Cat Oil

Album: Hell Bound Train
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:35
Size: 90.6 MB
Styles: Slide guitar blues, Swamp blues
Year: 2010
Art: Front

[4:10] 1. Hellbound Train
[3:21] 2. Room 429
[3:33] 3. Lonely
[3:19] 4. Get Gone
[3:32] 5. True Love Lies
[2:59] 6. You Got To Move
[4:58] 7. Stuck In Carolina
[3:24] 8. Ain't No Train
[4:11] 9. Ghost In My Guitar
[3:07] 10. Take The Back Road Home
[2:55] 11. Plantation Song

Atlanta's swamp-blues kings add another notch to their belt of tough, Southern, slide guitar-dominated blues/roots rock with this, the band's fifth studio release. Although little has changed musically since slimming to a quartet, frontmen/guitarists Tom Gray and Mark Johnson's songs have continued to refine their sense of groove, and Gray is increasingly comfortable with his lead vocal status. The group's confident dynamics and the combination of Gray's homey sandpaper voice with the intertwining guitar leads, perhaps best exemplified by "Stuck in Carolina"'s low-boil funk, keeps getting more incisive. Although there are plenty of solos, they are in service to the tunes, not vice-versa, surely an anomaly for acts that boast the sheer firepower of these two guitarists. When Gray nails a grimy, rust-colored riff as he does on the opening title track or the obsessive "Lonely," it seems like something ZZ Top would kill for in that band's earlier days. Add the dueling/overlapping guitar lines and the result is a gritty, distinctive attack that is driving when necessary, yet subtle enough to keep the spotlight on Gray's detailed, occasional story-song lyrics that often find him or his protagonists down but not quite out somewhere in the South. Country overtones inform "Take the Back Road Home," altering the approach somewhat, similar to the haunting unplugged, acoustic ballad "Plantation Song" that closes the disc. It's a sporadically spooky, even ghostly vibe, a point Gray articulates on "Ghost in My Guitar" with a distinct Dr. John feel enhanced by bubbling congas. Johnson's six-string banjo and the occasional guest saxophone also shows that though Delta Moon isn't straying from its core sound, there are plenty of ways to tweak the basics without changing the result. Even after five albums over the past eight years, it seems that the group is just starting to explore the possibilities inherent in their blues-based Southern genre. It's a style that could be confining, but in their hands, never is. ~Hal Horowitz

Hell Bound Train mc
Hell Bound Train zippy

Album: Black Cat Oil
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:06
Size: 101.0 MB
Styles: Slide guitar blues, Swamp blues
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[3:02] 1. Down And Dirty
[4:23] 2. Blues In A Bottle
[4:12] 3. Walk Out In The River
[3:36] 4. Black Cat Oil
[3:01] 5. Wishbone
[4:00] 6. Black Coffee
[4:59] 7. Neon Jesus
[3:58] 8. Jukin'
[5:10] 9. Sunshine
[3:34] 10. Applejack
[4:07] 11. Write Me A Few Of Your Lines

Even though the members of live in the sprawling city of Atlanta, they increasingly resemble a band born and raised in the Mississippi Delta. Tom Gray's grainy voice and the way his slide guitar lines interweave with those of Delta Moon co-founder Mark Johnson give the band a rustic style that's believable if not particularly authentic. Regardless, the band has created an impressive catalog of swampy blues with rock, soul, gospel, and folk strains of with Black Cat Oil, their seventh release, another impressive entry. The approach is somewhat more stripped down with the ever-present standup bass delivering a more organic groove, especially on the title track which, with its interlocking guitars, voodoo overtones, and humid, summer's night vibe, is as good a capsulation of this group's technique as anything they have recorded. The lyrics generally concern traveling through the South and life in small towns, and the music's insistent pulse follows suit, making this a logical audio companion for longer car trips. The walking bass and low boil percussion of "Sunshine" create a slightly ominous feel that contrasts with the song's upbeat lope. The detailed visuals of the protagonist in "Neon Jesus" who, with one eye shut, his jaw swollen, "tasting blood and seeing stars," observes the titular figure is another ghostly, unsettling image underscored by Johnson's sweet yet stinging slide. Delta Moon traditionally close their albums with a classic Southern blues cover. This time, Mississippi Fred McDowell's "Write Me a Few of Your Lines" fills the bill, allowing the guitarists a chance to open up on one of the set's most rollicking and energized moments. There may not be many musical surprises as Delta Moon enters its second decade, but with an instantly identifiable sound, typically top-notch musicianship, and another batch of smartly written, above-average tunes that could only have been written in the South, there's nothing wrong with not fixing what's not broken. ~Hal Horowitz

Black Cat Oil mc
Black Cat Oil zippy

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Delta Moon - Low Down

Size: 105,7 MB
Time: 44:48
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Blues Rock
Art: Front

01. Wrong Side Of Town (3:53)
02. Afterglow (3:52)
03. Nothing You Can Tell A Fool (3:41)
04. Mean Streak (5:25)
05. Lowdown (3:52)
06. Down In The Flood (4:13)
07. Open All Night (2:23)
08. Spark In The Dark (3:19)
09. Hard Time Killing Floor Blues (3:59)
10. Mayfly (3:11)
11. Jelly Roll (2:57)
12. Jacky Ray (3:56)

Low Down, from Delta Moon it's a warm mix of blues rock, country and radio play. Opening with Wrong Side Of Town, a blues rocker with Tom Gray on lead vocal and lap steel. A catchy melody and a JJ Cale like feel, this track should easily catch airplay. On New Orleans rhythm track, Afterglow, again has nice slide work with nice drum work from Marion Patton and bass work from Franher Joseph. Mark Johnson and Gray trade guitar riffs giving the track texture. Nothing You Can Tell A Fool has Muddy Waters like slide work from Johnson. Heavy tom tom work from Patton and backing vocals from Francine Reed, Johnson and Joseph nicely compliment the shimmery slide work throughout. Mean Streak has a solid radio theme and a slight funk on the bottom. Both lead and slide riffs on this track add nicely to the composition. Two stepper, Lowdown, a Tom Waits track, is my favorite track of the first half of the release with free wheelin' slide work from Johnson. Bob Dylan's, Down In The Flood, has a really cool feel with a underlying slide rhythm track. Johnson plays some of his nice slide riffs on this track and Francine Reeds vocals are a really nice addition. Cool rhythm is what it's all about on Open All Night. A rich drum rhythm with a really nice slide part and topped by Gray on harp makes this another of my favorite tracks on the release. Rock driver Shark In The Dark has super potential as a radio player with it's catchy melody, slide riffs and perfectly clicked vocals, set off by a clever drum part. Skip James' Hard Time Killing Floor Blues takes a more acoustic feel with Johnson on resonator and Gray laying down an eerie pedal steel slide. Cool track. Easy rocker, Matfly, is another track with strong airplay potential with Anna Kramer backing Gray on vocal and real slick slide work contrasted against a rock drum beat. Jelly Roll is an uptempo blues rocker with solid roots on the early blues. This track is my pick for the best track on the release with great slide work, a perfect groove and nicely blended vocals. Wrapping the release is Jacky Ray with a funky groove. Joseph lays down a cool bass line balanced against Gray on vocal and organ. Johnson has a saturated tone on guitar and slide giving the track an extra warm feeling. Nice conclusion to an overall cool release. ~bman

Low Down

Friday, June 20, 2014

Delta Moon - 2 albums: Life's A Song: Live Volume One / Turn Around When Possible: Live Volume Two

Album: Life's A Song: Live Volume One
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 74:47
Size: 171.2 MB
Styles: Slide guitar blues. Delta blues
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[4:26] 1. Hell Bound Train
[3:36] 2. Black Cat Oil
[3:58] 3. Lonely
[3:49] 4. Get Gone
[5:59] 5. Black Coffee
[3:20] 6. You Got To Move
[9:01] 7. Goin' Down South
[6:08] 8. I'm A Witness
[3:56] 9. Clear Blue Flame
[5:18] 10. Stuck In Carolina
[4:27] 11. Life's A Song
[6:58] 12. Blind Spot
[3:46] 13. Lap Dog
[9:58] 14. Shake Your Hips

This collection comes from shows recorded at three shows: Papa Mojo’s Roadhouse in Durham, North Carolina, November 17, 2012; Eddie’s Attic in Decatur, Georgia, December 15, 2012; and the Bradfordville Blues Club in Tallahassee, Florida, December 21, 2012.

Our friend Mel Melton, proprietor of Papa Mojo’s Roadhouse, is not only an excellent Cajun chef but also a terrific harmonica player. He has played with Sonny Landreth and Clifton, Cleveland and C.J. Chenier and is cowriter of Sonny’s signature song “Congo Square”. Mel sat in with us for a couple songs on this album: “Black Coffee” and “Shake Your Hips”.

Tom Gray - vocals, guitar, lap steel; Mark Johnson - backing vocals, guitar, banjo; Franher Joseph - backing vocals, bass; Darren Stanley - drums.

zippy

Album: Turn Around When Possible: Live Volume Two
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 54:02
Size: 123.7 MB
Styles: Slide guitar blues, Delta blues
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[4:29] 1. Midnight Train
[6:00] 2. Black Coffee
[4:13] 3. The Wrong Side Of Town
[4:10] 4. Get Gone
[7:13] 5. Shake 'em On Down
[4:26] 6. Hard Times Killing Floor Blues
[8:14] 7. Goin' Down South
[4:34] 8. True Love Lies
[5:24] 9. Nightclubbing
[5:15] 10. That's It

Recorded live May 7, 2013, before a live audience at Meisenfrei, Bremen, Germany. Recorded by Jörg Wrase, Computer Und Sound. Mixed at Bakos Amp Works, Atlanta, Georgia. Mastered at Griffin Mastering, Atlanta, Georgia.

zippy